Welcome to Wintering! Today we honor the gifts of the season of Winter: both the natural season of shorter days and colder weather, as well as personal “winters” — difficult, fallow times — that can happen in our lives any time of year. “Wintering” is how we make it through both of these, and how we learn from the challenges and insights of longer nights and colder days.

The season of Winter is full of contradictions — we appreciate the beauty of snow, and also wish to be somewhere warmer; we enjoy gathering with others, yet experience aloneness; we savor love that is present with us, grieve love and loved ones that are gone, and yearn for love that is ‘not yet.’ We learn lessons from nature, and develop practices that help us care for ourselves through the cold and dark months; we embrace and honor the darkness, while welcoming the return of the light.

The first half of our program illuminates the many Lessons of the Cold Season. We begin with a welcome to the season of Winter itself. While some of us relish this season, many of us resist the cold, the grey, the icy winds of winter weather, and we dream of being somewhere warmer. However, if we open ourselves to the experience of winter without resistance, we find immense beauty — in the sky that changes from day to day, in the snow that falls and transforms the landscape, in the creatures that have learned to adapt and thrive through the yearly challenges of winter cold. One of the ways that we human creatures have survived winter is to turn toward one another, to gather together in warmth and companionship. Even this closeness can bring its own challenges and lessons, but it often presents an opportunity for healing and forgiveness. Just as seeds are the ‘not yet’ idea of a fully grown plant, and some seeds require freezing temperatures to become ready to grow, we can choose to plant seeds of welcome during these winter months that will yield a harvest of love, with “a place by the fire for everyone.”

In the second half, Winter Love: Dark, Light, and Hope, we sing about these seeds of love and the many ways that they grow. They look like community celebrations – the Ukrainian song “On the Maidan, On the Market” describes an outdoor gathering with festive merriment (and maybe a little flirting). They sound like the voice that asks over and over through the winter months, “Is love alive?”

They grow through our intentions, as the composer of “Still the Same Love” writes: “We have to find a way back to loving ourselves and loving each other. We are held by love, even when we do not realize it.” They give comfort like “The Sleepy Song,” a Cree Lullaby written by Cree-Dene composer Sherryl Sewepagaham, which draws on family memories of the lullabies her grandmother sang to her father. The words “Go to sleep, I love you,” sung in Woodland Cree, are the gentle background of a rocking rhythm, wrapping a baby in love through the long nights of a northern winter.

We can choose to honor that long darkness, to “receive the gifts that come to us by day and by night,” to allow the generous and healing dark to “deliver us from fear until only love remains.” Underneath the darkness we also find Joy moving, just like a seed beginning to root, its presence made known in the silence and the light that rises and presses through. “Light is Returning” recounts the winter moment that all of us share as the earth makes its yearly orbit around the sun — the deep, dark, and long night of the winter solstice. This very darkest moment of the year is the exact moment when the light begins to return, and we celebrate the unity of sharing one planet together, accepting our responsibility to keep the light of hope alive through the storms of our world. Like a cycle of seasons, we end with the same song that began the concert today, but we are changed by our experience of Wintering as we welcome and open ourselves to the possibilities of the new year.

It is my sincere hope that one or more of the songs we sing today will land in your heart and help to carry you through the longest nights and the coldest months of the year, to nurture your spirit through your own winters, this winter.

In harmony,
Meagan Johnson
Artistic Director

Dennese Adkins
Sara Allaei
Michelle Mravec Arthur
Reba Baker*
Jodie Barnett
Sarah Blair
Mary Bondeson
Vanessa Bozzo
Alicia Drier Burier*
Vicki Bynum
Mary Beth Carlson
Rebecca Clark
Jennifer Collins
Cheryl Croghan
Abby Danner
Jo Davies*
Colleen Downey
Sherry DuBois
Cara Eastis
Elizabeth Enas
Erica Eugster*
Katie Fedeler
Jane Ferris
Lannae Gordon*
Mandie Gould
Margaret Gray
Evan Greeley
Andrea Grotenhuis
Abigail Hale
Lizzie Hallinan
Meg Hart
Lisa Hartshorn*
Christine Hawkins
Mary Ryker Hernandez
Eva Hernandez-Ramaswamy
Melissa Hibdon
Emily Hickman
Kristen Hidding
Robin Jones
Kris Kauffman*
Rachel Kempin
Jayne Kercheval
Cara Kirkpatrick
Jane Lang
Michelle Liechty
Niki Lyons
Melissa Madill
Kelsey Madill
Ana Mann
Jennifer Mathews
Janet McCabe
Diana McClure
Sally McSpadden
Sarah Mihelic
Marty Miles
Holly Miller
Jana Miller
Janet Miller
Laura Muehlbauer
Anne Murphy
Kayla Norman
Alicia Oskay*
Stacie Colston Patterson
Lauren Peters
Sara Peterson
Liz Piekarczyk
Mary Piekarczyk
Donna Pittman*
Cara Berg Raunick
Miranda Reseigh
Mary Roberts
Jenny Robinette
Kate Roelecke
Lisa Roller
Sarah Rowley*
Bridget Sarris
Rose Saurini
Claire Scheele
Joanna Schreck
Ali Schumacher
Joan Showalter
Megan Soller
Kimber Stancato
Sarah Stentz
Jenna Streit
Marilyn Stutzman
Haley Sumner
Bonnie Taylor
Catie Thomas
Jen Schmits Thomas
Kira Thomas
Sarah Thrasher
Maria Valentine
Katherine Vellenga
Sarah Viktora*
Reese Walker
Helen Weber-McReynolds
Lisa Weidekamp
Tina Wiesert
Emily Wilhelm
Shirah Winicur
Larisa Woodruff
Cortnee Yarbrough
Jenn Zuckerman

*Leave of absence for this concert

Meagan Johnson, Artistic Director

Meagan Johnson is a dynamic, interdisciplinary artist-educator with more than 15 years experience leading choirs and teaching Alexander Technique and voice to individuals and groups. Meagan’s goal in all settings is to empower people with the skills and tools that support them in doing their best work and living their most whole lives — with ease, with freedom, and with joy. Building on a life-long interest in the intersection of artistry, education, and well-being, Meagan Johnson is a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique, experienced singer and voice educator, and choral conductor. In addition to her studio teaching in Indianapolis and online, she has served on the faculties of the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music, Butler University, Marian University, and University of Indianapolis. In 2015, she was appointed Artistic Director of Indianapolis Women’s Chorus. Meagan is also a sought-after clinician for choirs, collegiate music departments, and conferences. She holds the Master of Music in Voice Performance and the Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance/Music Education from Ithaca College, and completed her Alexander Technique Teacher Certification (1600 hours, AmSAT) at Alexander Technique Urbana. More information at meaganjohnsonstudio.com.

Ross Dryer, Collaborative Pianist
Ross Dryer, collaborative pianist, received his Bachelor of Music in Piano Performance and his Master of Music in Collaborative Piano from the University of Missouri-Columbia, where he studied with Dr. Peter Miyamoto. In addition to his work with IWC, he is currently employed as the choir accompanist at Fishers High School and as a staff collaborative pianist at Butler University, and has worked with several community theaters in Columbia.

Kara Spurlock, violin
Kara Day Spurlock started performing with her first concert at the age of 4 and has not stopped since. While living in the New York City area, Kara worked as a full-time musician and performed with organizations, such as the Greenwich Symphony Orchestra, the Long Island Philharmonic, and several seasons with the Radio City Music Hall orchestra. She has toured with Luther Vandross, Natalie Cole, Pia Zadora, and the New York Pops. Upon returning home to Indianapolis in 1997, Kara has performed with other Indiana-based musical organizations, including the Indianapolis Symphony, the Indianapolis Chamber Orchestra, and the Indianapolis Opera Orchestra, and has performed as a soloist with the Richmond Symphony Orchestra, Orkestra Projekt, and the Indianapolis Philharmonic. Kara has played in the pits of many touring Broadway shows, including Phantom of the Opera, Book of Mormon, and Ain’t Too Proud. She currently works as a studio musician, specializing in soloing in a variety of genres, including jazz, country, and Celtic styles. Ms. Spurlock is completing a master’s degree in psychology and intents to work with artists and performers in all areas of the arts.

Grover Parido, cello
Grover Parido received his music education from Butler University, as a cello student of Arkady Orlovsky. Other notable teachers include Michael Schelle, Jackson Wiley, Cassel Grubb and Robert Sansone.
Grover has an active career as a musician and educator. As a performer Grover is a specialist in rock, folk, jazz and blues. He has appeared on dozens of recordings and has performed across North America in various ensembles. Grover currently performs with the Woomblies Rock Orchestra, The Phil Pierle Trio, Bill Price, Cara Jean Wahlers and Chad Mills. Grover is the assistant orchestra director at Pike High School in Indianapolis and has been a private music instructor in the area for 26 years.

Debbie Gates, Percussion
Debbie Gates is a life-long musician who moved to percussion after years of playing piano. One of the co-facilitators of Sally Childs-Helton's WomenDrum, she's taught djembe to beginner and intermediate drummers, and has performed throughout the country as part of the eclectic Celtic band, Wild Mercy.

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IWC remembers the following chorus members, leaders, and supporters who have passed away:

Joey Burt, stage manager & supporter
Pamela O'Haver Day, chorus member
Sharon Farley, chorus member
Esther Fuller, chorus leader & supporter
Kathleen “Kassie” George, chorus member
Pam Mueller, chorus member
Mary Ellen Reed, chorus member
Holly Marie Singer, chorus member
Christy Lynn Stossmeister, chorus member

If a name has been omitted or listed incorrectly, please accept our apologies and contact us at info@indianapoliswomenschorus.org.

We gratefully acknowledge the Hildegard Circle gifts listed here (gifts of $50+) and other special gifts, reflecting donations between 1/1/2023–12/3/2023. If your name was omitted or listed incorrectly, please accept our apologies and contact us at giving@indianapoliswomenschorus.org.

$1000–$1500
Rod Collier & John Strachan
Jim & Helen Johnson

$500–$999
Beth Kloote
Marty Miles

$250–$499
Anonymous
Margaret Gray
Janet Hock
Kaye & Bruce McSpadden

$150–$249
Pam Gray
Jeff Jones
Sally McSpadden & Jim Hanna
Robin Sahner
Christine Schumacher & Hal Hess
Stephen & Marcia Treffman

$50–$149
Anonymous
Kim Allman & Leisa Waggoner
John & Janice Aughey
Jodie Barnett
Ruby Jo Barnett
Margaret & Ryan Gooley
Mandie E. Gould
LuEtta Culp
Malcolm Dalglish
Peter Fellegy
Joanne Haley-Borodine
Tricia & Michael Hurst
Robin Jones & Stephen Egolf
Ann Kaminski
Bill & Ann Jones
Francis Lapka
Susan R. Logsdon
Edith Millikan & Lynne Arrowsmith
Stephen Olin
John & Theresa Schreck
Renee Schultz
Donna Schick
Grace Starcke
Erik Stark
Shelley Stewart
Evalyn & David Stitt
Deve Vetter
Constance Wernersbach
Cara Yoder

MEMORIAL GIFTS
In Memory of Andrew J. Weidekamp
Lisa Weidekamp

ANGEL FUND (scholarship help for singers)
Sara Kurtz Allaei
Judith Carson
Andrea & Todd Grotenhuis
Janet McCabe & Jon Laramore
Marty Miles
Claire Scheele
Maria Valentine

SPECIAL OCCASION GIFTS
Happy Birthday to Sarah Rowley!
Deborah Rowley

In Honor of Jodie Barnett's Birthday
Kimberly Butrum